Caleb Williams hopes to play when USC faces Tulane in Cotton Bowl
Adam Kartje (LA Times) — USC quarterback Caleb Williams is hopeful he can lead the Trojans’ offense against No. 16 Tulane in the Cotton Bowl, while coach Lincoln Riley offered a more cautious forecast Sunday.
Williams limped his way through the Pac-12 title game after he “popped” his hamstring on a first-quarter run. Riley noted after the game that Williams was “not even close to 50%” during the second half and that he considered going to backup Miller Moss. But the Heisman Trophy favorite refused to check out, instead fighting his way through the rest of the Utah loss while largely confined to the pocket, unable to scramble as usual.
Williams, who still had a serious limp Sunday, was confident that he would play in the bowl game when asked by The Times after an event for his foundation, Caleb Cares.
“It would take a lot to keep me out,” Williams said.
Riley said Williams likely would not be able to play if USC had another game in the next two weeks, referring to it as a “significant hamstring injury.”
“Hamstrings are different for everybody, but the nature of his is pretty severe,” Riley said. “… We will see how it progresses. We obviously hope to have him. He’s a warrior.”
Riley confirmed USC senior center Brett Neilon will not suit up again for the Trojans after suffering an injury against Utah.
No bowl bid could ease the pain for USC missing the College Football Playoff. But after falling just short of the final four, a consolation trip to the Cotton Bowl will have to do.
USC will face Group of Five champion Tulane on Jan. 2 in Dallas, seeking a 12th win for the first time since 2008, when Pete Carroll still roamed the sidelines.
That might not be the matchup USC pined for to finish its first season under Riley. But after suffering a second loss to Utah in the Pac-12 title game Friday, the Trojans fell to No. 10 in the final College Football Playoff rankings, behind the Utes as well as Alabama and Tennessee.
Still, at 11-2, USC was chosen to appear in a New Year’s Six bowl as an at-large for the first time since 2017, when it was steamrolled by Ohio State in the same bowl.
The Trojans will face a far less familiar opponent this time. It’s been 76 years since USC and Tulane last met on a football field, though both have followed similar trajectories this season.
Tulane is one of the few teams in college football that can claim a more staggering turnaround than USC this season. The Green Wave were a paltry 2-10 last year, scraping the bottom of the American Athletic Conference, before they came alive this season, routing Central Florida on Saturday on their way to an 11-2 record and AAC championship.
Tulane running back Tyjae Spears carries the ball for a TD against CIN on Nov. 25 in Cincinnati. Tulane won 27-24. (Aaron Doster / AP)
That unexpected run was anchored by a rushing attack that could give USC and its questionable defense fits. Tulane junior running back Tyjae Spears exploded for 1,376 rushing yards (13th nationally) and 17 total touchdowns this season. And he saved his best for the last five games, when he averaged better than 8.5 yards per carry.
Slowing Spears could be an especially tall task for a Trojan defense that just gave up a season-high 223 rushing yards in its Pac-12 title loss to Utah.
Whether USC will have to face that challenge in the bowl without the benefit of its own star remains to be seen.
While USC waits to learn more about Williams’ recovery, others might opt not to play in the Cotton Bowl for different reasons. Wideout Jordan Addison is expected to be a first-round NFL draft pick and could choose to opt-out of playing in the game to guard against injury.
latimes.com
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So far in the portal I have seen what could be a few game changers. Most are out of the south. Other than that I see guys who have not played a lot. Getting those blue chippers off the portal is going to be pretty hard to get and few to pick from. I am sure LR is a better judge of talent than I am so he will get what he needs or someone close to it.
If Miller Moss is our QB in the Cotton Bowl, and Caleb can’t play, I can’t even predict a win vs TULANE. Most of USC’s victories this year were dependent on Caleb’s magic. Without that, I wonder how much success our excellent WRs, and highly successful fill-in Austin Jones will even have, with nobody too worried about the totally untested Moss. Moss has played in four 2022 games, completing 12 of his 14 passes (11.4 ypa) He had one TD and no turnovers, and three rushes for nine yds. Moss also played in one game last season, where he was… Read more »
USC has opened as only a 1.5 pt fave over TULANE on VegasInsider.
With the depletion on defense and offense, this will be a close one. This looks like a bowl the Trojans show up for the party in Dallas but not looking to win at all cost.
Baker Mayfield to L.A.! — the Rams have claimed Lincoln Riley’s Heisman winner.
The Rams will take on the rest of Mayfield’s contract (about $1.35 million for the remainder of the season), after which the QB will become a free agent.
International Boxing Hall of Fame referee Mills Lane dies at 85
Lane is shown working the ‘Bite Fight’ between Evander Holyfield and Mike Tyson. A collegiate boxing champion who narrowly missed making the 1960 U.S. Olympic team and who would go on to a career as a prosecutor, a two-term district attorney, a district court judge and one of the greatest referees in boxing history, Lane died early Tuesday at a hospice near his home in Reno, Nevada.
The Athletic Assigns Grades to Pac-12 Arizona: B Despite missing out on a bowl game, the Wildcats made great strides in Year 2 under Jedd Fisch. After a 1-11 mark in Fisch’s first season, Arizona beat No. 9 UCLA on the road and took back the Territorial Cup with a win over rival Arizona State. Finishing 5-7 was a significant step for a program that recently had bottomed out. — Doug Haller Arizona State: F A coach dismissal after Week 3. A quarterback change. Losing to rival Arizona for the first time since 2016. Not to mention the ongoing NCAA investigation. The Sun Devils faced… Read more »
It seems that Utah deserves an A+ for being the Pac12 champion.
USC. A- for almost winning.
OS. A- for competing great.
How can you be an A+ if you lose three games?
Sorry, I just don’t see that, but if USC deserves an A, so does UTAH for sure. We never could stop those guys this season, but the Utes blew it against UF, UCLA and ORE. Maybe give them an A+ at home, but a B on the road.
College Football Bowl Games (Pete Fiutak, College Football News): Ranking All 41. How Good Is Your Bowl? 26. Tony the Tiger Sun Bowl UCLA vs Pitt Friday, December 30, 2022 2:00, CBS Sun Bowl Stadium, El Paso, TX Last Year: Central Michigan 24, Washington State 21 There’s no Kedon Slovis – he’s hanging out in the transfer portal – and Boston College’s Phil Jurkovec obviously isn’t going to be in the mix until next season. On the other side, UCLA might be missing most of its top skill guys if they opt out early. Even so, it’ll be worth paying… Read more »
Heisman also-ran candidate Stetson Bennett is already 25 years old.
C.J. Stoud is 21.
Max Duggan is 21.
Caleb Williams just turned 20.
Congrats Brett Neilon
I saw one offer yesterday for a portal guy, but nothing else. I’m sure that we will be hearing lots more in the next few days. The OLine and DLine guys who are ready to play go fast.
Adam Grosbard (OC Register) — “Lincoln Riley and defensive coordinator Alex Grinch inherited arguably the worst defense in USC history when they arrived from Oklahoma a year ago. It was never going to be a one-year fix. And in some areas, most notably turnovers, USC made significant progress. “But if there were any games in which USC felt like an adequate tackling team, it was an outlier during this 11-2 campaign. As Riley noted, much of the time the Trojans were in the right place. They just didn’t have the personnel capable of bringing ball carriers to the ground. As… Read more »
The Athletic’s Heisman Straw Poll: Caleb Williams lived up to the hype, outpoints Duggan and Hooker Matt Fortuna — “USC quarterback Caleb Williams was the biggest transfer of the offseason, a five-star free agent who landed near Hollywood, raked in splashy NIL deals and symbolized this ever-changing era of college football. “It turns out he was worth all of the hype and then some. “Williams (93 points) is the 2022 winner of The Athletic’s Heisman straw poll after using a late-season surge to pull away from the field and establish himself as the favorite to take home the most famous individual award in American… Read more »
USC’s Transfer Portal entrants, all on defense
LB Julien Simon
S Xavion Alford
LB Tayler Katoa
LB Ralen Goforth
eric sondheimer @latsondheimer
“Something tells me UCLA is about to take a bunch of Stanford transfers.”
Interesting question Stanford faces. With Shaw gone and the Administration blocking NIL as well as refusing transfers, what is going to be left to field a team? Shaw is gone. No replacement in sight. There actually is a legit issue if Stanford will be able to field a team next year. SC had the same problem if it did not remove Helton. The talent would simply have left.
Ya, Stanford is really dying in football. Weird to watch it in slow motion.
I don’t see how they compete going forward with their current policies towards the sport. I truly wonder what they might do, or maybe they’re plotting their return to decency somehow at this very moment.
I thought more about it. My guess is they will go the way of the service academies. After all, the service academies do not offer NIL and do not accept transfers. If I have this correct, you will not see NFL level kids at Stanford, but it can field competitive teams. The service academies certainly do. We will learn a lot from the new HC hire. If they hire a service academy HC, we will have our answer. As this is a totally different approach, it will be a painful transition. My guess is there a lot of kids on… Read more »
Stanford, Ravens offensive coordinator Greg Roman have mutual interest NFL.com — “Athletic Director Bernard Muir, who spoke with Greg Roman recently, left the conversation encouraged. Roman would be potentially returning to his college football home, as he served as assistant head coach at Stanford under Jim Harbaugh from 2009-2010. He was a finalist for the Broyles Award in 2010, given annually to the nation’s top college football assistant coach. “The news of Stanford reaching out to Roman, which was first reported by Stewart Mandel, The Athletic’s editor-in-chief of college football coverage, was later confirmed by Ravens head coach John Harbaugh. “A source… Read more »
You would have to “have rocks in your head” if you think you can turn
Stanford into a “monster” again. Unless, of course, the Administration modifies its views on NIL and transfers.
Here’s Greg Roman. Does he fit on The Farm?
Roman, 50, was STAN’s TEs and OTs coach from 2009-’10. He played a big role on Jim Harbaugh’s staff, before becoming the Buffalo Bills’ OC (2015-’16) before joining the Ravens’ coaching staff. He was named the AP’s NFL Assistant Coach of the Year in 2019.
Definitely going to be testing our depth with all the kids entering the transfer portal and those opting out for the NFL. One good thing is we get to see players who will get a chance to show why they should play next season.
Goforth is in portal.
I think that is good news because it tells me that LR and/or Grinch are looking to make big upgrades on defense and they probably ‘sugggeted’ that he look elsewhere. Goforth might have been the best of what was available and he could occasionally make a big play but more often that not he was kind of out of control and took bad angles of pursuit. JMO.
I agree. I will interpret this, until proven elsewise, as “Vatican chimney smoke” signaling that LR is already having end of season one-on-ones with his players, and on defense, opening up slots for different kids. If I’m right, I think this is great that LR is going after the obvious team weakness. I’m also pretty sure he hears the buzz about him being the same old offense minded coach who doesn’t care about defense and can’t build a tough football team, and is going about to change that perception with some real results that will speak for themselves.
Nice kid but awfully slow.
Justin Flowe is in. He coming back home?
Trojans offer Alabama transfer cornerback Khyree Jackson “Head coach Lincoln Riley and USC football made an early official offer in the winter Transfer Portal window to ALA CB Khyree Jackson (6-3, 198). Jackson has picked up portal offers from ORE, RUT, UK, MARYD and PSU. Jackson noted those offers, including USC, came when he initially entered the portal on Nov. 23, but withdrew due to him not being a graduate transfer. He re-entered on Monday. “Jackson played in the first nine games of the season, including a start in Week 2 against TEXAS. But Jackson wasn’t spotted with the team in… Read more »
USC Safety Xavion Alford to Enter the Transfer Portal
“USC safety Xavion Alford announced Monday that he will enter his name into the transfer portal. The redshirt soph spent two years with the Trojans after transferring in from TEXAS ahead of the 2021 season. He did not see the field during the 2022 season due to injuries…”
on3.com
Not much of a loss for us.
I wish we weren’t losing Ralen Goforth, at least for depth, and we could sure use him against TULANE. I saw #10 in on a lot of action this season, even if he wasn’t always the earliest to arrive.
That hit Goforth put on Cameron Rising was unforgettable.
Losing him hurts for the bowl game but I’m sure Riley will figure out how to move forward without him, I expect us to actually practice for the bowl game unlike the previous coach who didn’t have us ready at all. It will be next man up on defense and offense.
It seems like quite a few people think USC won’t show up well for the Cotton Bowl vs TULANE. I can’t imagine that based on USC’s recent history of getting woodshedded there by OHIO ST 24-7 in 2017. USC still has a lot to prove as a program, and so does LR, who lives under a constant shadow of performing poorly after the reg season. All systems go!
So many in transfer portal
today that you can’t keep up. We aren’t short on WR, but I would offer Singer right now. He’s a dude.
Baker Mayfield, Heisman winner under LR, has been released by the Panthers.
Baker has had a great career, particularly in advertising. He hit it rich under LR. My guess is the Indy Colts may be interested. Matt Ryan looked awful last night against the Cowboys.
As a Niner fan I would like to see them give Baker Mayfield a shot. Jimmy G went down last night and Brock Purdy finished the game. Niners are a better team than Indy and with a strong team around him Baker just might do ok.
In the end, Baker got beaten out by oft-injured Sam Darnold. I’m still a big Darnold fan and have hopes he can still be an NFL starter.
I too like Sam more than Baker. But Niners are in a world of hurt at QB…BTW Justin Flowe entered the portal. When healthy he has been a good productive LB. IMO if healthy he would be an upgrade at the LB position. But staying healthy is a big if. I think he is worth the gamble.
Some Duck fans describe Flowe as a so-called “bust” in Eugene. I have no idea. It’ll be interesting to see who LR decides to go after, and why.
Something like 10 Ducks are already in the Portal! Not a happy crew.
Sometime over the last week LR talked about the most important question coaches asked in the Portal. Is he a me player or a USC culture first player. If the answer was ‘me’ it was an immediate pass
The player I am sweating out is Miller Moss. If he goes into the portal, QB position for the bowl game will be a big issue. Hope he stays but I can see him looking for playing time elsewhere. Fresno State will be looking for a QB. I could see Tedford make something of Miller.
Thought about Miller as well. There is the April 15 portal as well.
If he is the starter for the Cotton bowl he should stay till then. He can showcase his talent and then enter the portal. He will be at best #2 next year with Malakai Nelson coming in.
Sam was a great trojan. Sadly, I fear his days as a starter have passed.
Heisman Finalists announced today, between 3-5pm PT.😎✌
I think Caleb gets it this year. Penix is returning to WA for next year. He is clearly trying to win the Heisman and take WA to the final CFP in the 4 team format. From what I can see, right now the four top teams in the Pac are Utah, WA, SC and, incredibly, AZ. I think OR, UCLA and Oregon State have drop offs. UCLA, in particular, is losing too much talent. Maybe Chip can replenish via the portal, but that remains to be seen.
PITT/and former Trojan QB Kedon Slovis Enters Transfer Portal After One Season in Pittsburgh. I’ve never felt Slovis was a strong enough leader. But it does surprise me he’s on the move again.
“You never want to be the guy to follow up the guy. For better or worse, that task — and much of Kenny Pickett’s offensive personnel — fell to Kedon Slovis. And it didn’t work..”
https://pittsburghsportsnow.com/2022/12/05/pitt-qb-kedon-slovis-enters-transfer-portal-after-one-season-in-pittsburgh/
Must have graduated. Like JT, Slovis will play see what interest he can raise. I doubt it will be much. JT has transferred from SC to GA and GA to W.Va. Let’s see where Kedon ends up. Southern GA? Or West Va to play for GH?
JT was benched for the final 3 games of West Virginia’s season.
I don’t think Slovis has what it takes to start at a good school. No real legs, not a great arm or accuracy, and not much of a leader (IMO). That said, I hope he proves me wrong, and wins the Heisman in 2023.
I feel like this board has great perspective. While fair criticism and speculation is part of being a fan, we understand how far this team has come. Listening to a few podcast and reading message boards there are so many crazy people out there. I have heard lots, no kidding lots, of supposed fans who no longer want Lincoln Riley. What?!?!?! That is just nonsense. I can’t wait to see us next year. This years team makes me believe that our jump in talent and execution for next year is a guarantee.
There’s always a lot of vitriol to go around out there when perfection proves elusive. It would have been perfect had USC beaten UTAH and found a place in the playoffs — if you like playing GA with no D. Without a healthy Caleb Williams, that was never possible. Still, USC is arguably headed for another 12-win season, an utterly astounding fact based on what the NCAA and some wildly inferior athletic dept decisions did to USC football. USC outperformed all of my expectations this year, smashing almost all of its rivals and leaving DTR and all of Bruinville brokenhearted… Read more »
From the moment LR was introduced to today USC football is back. Certainly the record reflects it.
Record aside the culture transformation that has occurred is astounding. Seeing Neilon on the med. cart ,Dye by his side few times in the last few years have I been prouder of the character of the young men wearing Cardinal and Gold.
The heart of USC football beats stronger than ever. There’s a new era, Big1G ect unfolding, and our foundation is rock solid.
(Not to mention the Heisman tradition)
Under the cat, the Trojans as a team opted out of a bowl game appearance. The thought that any Trojan under Riley would opt out of any game doesn’t compute. Saying Addison might opt out is not on the radar. First no bowl game is a consolation prize. It’s big money to the school and probably the NIL athletes. Second if Caleb plays Jordan will be there because Caleb can talk him into it.
I expect the team to show up for the game they earned.
While I hope they all play in the game I understand if those who have high draft grades do not. It’s not a character flaw if some of those guys decide not to play. Addison, Tuli, Voorhees, and Blackmon all have millions of dollars on the line. It would be a disaster if they suffered a huge injury in this bowl game.
SC could play the Cotton Bowl without Caleb, Addison, Neilon and Voorhees on offense and Tuli and Blackmon on defense. Could make for a more competitive game with Tulane. I sense that a rested defense can handle Tulane, even without Blackmon and Tuli. The O line will be depleted but I still like our chances with Moss and the rest of the WRs and Jones.
No way I think USC is beating TULANE without all those guys. Hope you are right, however!
I’ve been going to USC games for 68 years, and you need some perspective. Remember the “my maid went to Fresno St” bowl fiasco? I think the projected absences, coupled with our weak run defense, and Tulane playing almost a home game, (La, to Dal) and the trojans off a murderers row 3 game stretch, could easily overlook the green wave. You know Tulane will be sky high. A huge game for their programs credibility.
DANGER!!!
Did the Utah game cost Caleb the Heisman?
How could the UTAH game cost Caleb the Heisman? He was totally fantastic again in the 1st Q, then he got hurt. Without him, USC’s a ship without a rudder if there ever was one and probably has three more losses, at least.
Who’s gonna take it from him? Nobody I’ve seen play this year. He’s gonna win big.
Here is my fear: Stetson Bennett wins the Heisman as a Lifetime Achievement Award. His record and story are great. But the other 3 guys are better players and more important to their team. McCaffery & Luck both got hosed and I am afraid the West Coast is going to get shut out again. I hope I am wrong.
The problem is, Stetson isn’t half the quarterback that Caleb is, and everybody knows it. Caleb’s got this Heisman in the bag. I’m gonna stick to that prediction until I see him wearing a towel over his head in his seat at the announcement ceremony. Plus, USC’s a Heisman factory.
I agree with everything you say. But this nervous nelly won’t relax until Caleb has the trophy in his hands.
Chris, I agree. If you have a legitimate chance at the NFL AND you are leaving for the NFL after this game, it makes zero sense to play it. You do not wish to run the risk of an injury like Nielen. And, if Caleb is not fully recovered, he should be sat as well.